Honnold/Mudd Library: "Excerpts from and Extensions to...": Graphics Installation in the Learning Room

"Excerpts from and Extensions to...":
Graphics Installation in the Learning Room

"Excerpts from and Extensions to..." is the title of the graphics installation recently completed by Professor Nancy Macko, Chair of the Art Department at Scripps College and Director of the Scripps Computer Art Program, and Jan Blair, Los Angeles-based photo artist and videographer, with whom Macko collaborated on the project. The permanent installation can be viewed in the Libraries’ Keck Learning Room in Honnold/Mudd Library.

The concept of having a graphics installation in the Learning Room was the brainchild of Denison librarian Carrie Marsh, a member of the Keck Project Team. Along with Carrie, both Bonnie Clemens, Director of Libraries, and Gale Burrow, Coordinator of Instruction and Keck Project Leader, were committed to having artwork as an integral part of the Learning Room. Nancy Macko was invited to make a proposal for a permanent installation.

Professor Macko proposed using the images and text found in the "alphabet" stained glass window at Denison and extending that interpretation slightly. Portions of the window are already reflected on the Libraries’ web site. Drawing from it for the Learning Room extends the familiarity with the images and continues the idea of language as it has formed from notched sticks and early cave paintings to its current digital form. We have experienced the advent of the digital age since the installation of the window almost 35 years ago. Macko and Blair expand upon the window's interpretation of the "alphabet" to include the most current state of language and text by adding a font that reflects digital text as well as to extend the primarily Western text-based languages of the window to include the Chinese character for peace, "wa."

Extrapolating the images and text from the window to an appropriate application within the Learning Room takes into consideration the architecture and activities of the space. To that end, a minimal selection of images placed carefully and thoughtfully around the room create a feeling of life and learning without distracting and disturbing those using the room. Since the scale of the room is much larger than any of the actual images, the images from the window have been modified and manipulated to accommodate the difference.

The installation uses a palette that reflects the colors already present in the room–walls, trim, desktops, chairs and carpeting–so that the graphics seem to blend in with the room and, at the same time, add a sense of graphic playfulness and visual movement. Drawing upon the "alphabet" window as the graphic display in the Learning Room continues an already familiar theme that takes the viewer on a conceptual journey reminding one of the development of language and the value of text.

Information provided by:
Professor Nancy Macko
Chair, Art Department
Director of Computer Art Program
Scripps College
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"Excerpts from and Extensions to..." is the title of the graphics installation recently completed by Professor Nancy Macko, Chair of the Art Department at Scripps College and Director of the Scripps Computer Art Program, and Jan Blair, Los Angeles-based photo artist and videographer, with whom Macko collaborated on the project. The permanent installation can be viewed in the Libraries’ Keck Learning Room in Honnold/Mudd Library.
The concept of having a graphics installation in the Learning Room was the brainchild of Denison librarian Carrie Marsh, a member of the Keck Project Team. Along with Carrie, both Bonnie Clemens, Director of Libraries, and Gale Burrow, Coordinator of Instruction and Keck Project Leader, were committed to having artwork as an integral part of the Learning Room. Nancy Macko was invited to make a proposal for a permanent installation.